A son remembers his father, an Army band trumpeter

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Time now for StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative. On this Memorial Day weekend, we remember Sergeant First Class Jodi Walz, a Desert Storm veteran and a member of the U.S. Army band.

GENA GEAR: He loved playing for Memorial Day, you know, when they would go around the cemeteries. And he felt that it was necessary to pay tribute to these people.

SIMON: Jodi sang and played trumpet, an instrument that his son, Ryan Walz, picked up also. After Jodi died from COVID-19 in November 2020, Ryan came to StoryCorps with his mother, Gena Gear, to reflect on his father's service.

GEAR: He wasn't a particularly fabulous singer, and he would even say that himself, but he was a performer, and that's what he enjoyed."...